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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Please note this email did not originate with me. I know some people are having problems posting to the list serve. I am working on a fix but for the meantime, if you try to post something unsuccessfully, please
forward it to me and I’ll post it for you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Please also realize that the list serve is just a small part of my job and sometimes the list serve has to wait. If I am out of the office, no one else is responding to it for me.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Still, we’re lucky to have this great way to communicate about these issues –<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Thanks,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Laurie<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"> John Anderson [<a href="mailto:JcAnderson27@outlook.com">mailto:JcAnderson27@outlook.com</a>]
<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, February 01, 2016 11:40 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> 'Tenace, Laurie'; 'pharmwaste@lists.dep.state.fl.us'<br>
<b>Subject:</b> RE: [Pharmwaste] Septic Systems Contaminate Drinking Water Wells on Cape Cod article<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D">Laurie,
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D">Great post!
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D">It is terrific to hear about anomalies on Cape Cod reverberating from the West Coast and Seattle!
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D">A couple of points not mentioned:
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2"><![if !supportLists]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#1F497D"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D">Cape Cod is essentially a giant sand bar with ground water. It stays fixed in its location thanks to the Army Corps of Engineers and battles fought
by each town. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2"><![if !supportLists]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#1F497D"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D">The aquifer is very high, therefore on Cape Cod, Groundwater = Surface Water<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2"><![if !supportLists]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#1F497D"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D">Similar concerns exist for the islands Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and Jamestown in harbor of Newport RI
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2"><![if !supportLists]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#1F497D"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D">Sadly in some areas on Cape Cod, where there actually is town sewage, the towns often inject into the ground. (I understand there may be some pre-treatment,
but pre-treatment for what?) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D">One evening in Cambridge, MA at an event sponsored by MIT, where Pharma-Cycle was one of the featured companies presenting, one serial entrepreneur out of
MIT lingered by our table. The man was obviously thinking about some things he usually did not focus upon ion life. In chatting with him I mentioned my septic in Boxford, MA was on the backyard behind my lawn and the well-head was on the front lawn. Additionally
my well in Boxford is 300 feet deep with a lot of solid New England ledge in between the two systems. However, I told him that while shopping for houses I was laughed at as I had wells tested, sometimes with shocking results … even in geologies assumed to
be similar to Boxford’s. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D">To my utter amazement, this very precise individual insisted his well at his summer home on either Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard (I cannot recall which) was
only 9 feet deep!!! He absolutely insisted 9 feet was the exact depth. I would like to think he was terribly mistaken … but he knew all sorts of other details regarding a broad range of subjects … so maybe that evening he discovered a huge oversight and
family health risk! I remember suggesting Poland Springs Water! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D">I am hoping Jim Mullowney, who has brought some resources to bear on these questions and caused studies to be performed on Cape Cod, will follow-up this post
with some temperate and thoughtful posts showing the Cancer Fish from Cape Cod, etc.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D">Thanks again for this very enlightening post showing some of the issues highlighted on Cape Cod are being heard nationally!
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#002060">Best Regards!
</span><span style="color:#002060"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#002060"> </span><span style="color:#002060"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#002060">John Anderson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#002060"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><a href="mailto:jcanderson@HUBCFO.com">jcanderson@HUBCFO.com</a></span><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#002060">617-499-6900 Office</span><span style="color:#002060"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#002060">617-499-6900 Fax</span><span style="color:#002060"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#002060">978-837-0092 Mobile</span><span style="color:#002060"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">
<a href="mailto:pharmwaste-bounces@lists.dep.state.fl.us">pharmwaste-bounces@lists.dep.state.fl.us</a> [<a href="mailto:pharmwaste-bounces@lists.dep.state.fl.us">mailto:pharmwaste-bounces@lists.dep.state.fl.us</a>]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Tenace, Laurie<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, January 29, 2016 9:16 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> 'pharmwaste@lists.dep.state.fl.us'<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Pharmwaste] Septic Systems Contaminate Drinking Water Wells on Cape Cod article<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2016/world/septic-systems-contaminate-drinking-water-wells-on-cape-cod/">http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2016/world/septic-systems-contaminate-drinking-water-wells-on-cape-cod/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:7.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:16.8pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">Cape Cod, the hooked arm of land that flexes eastward from mainland Massachusetts, is the iconic New England vacation spot. Less glamorously, it is also the perfect laboratory to
study the relationship between wastewater and groundwater contamination.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:7.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:16.8pt;background:white">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">The peninsula, whose population of 215,000 more than doubles during the summer, has tight clusters of septic systems and shallow household drinking water wells. Both are placed,
on the same parcel of land, in sand and gravel soils through which water easily flows. Combined, it is a recipe for contamination. That is exactly what researchers at the Silent Spring Institute have found.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">They tested 20 household drinking water wells for 117 organic compounds in an area that uses exclusively septic systems or cesspools, which are backyard means of disposing toilet
waste and water that goes down drains. The organic compounds are pharmaceuticals, personal care products, sweeteners, and certain chemicals used to stop fire. In the well water, the researchers detected 27 of the compounds, some of which have been found to
interfere with hormonal development and reproduction in fish species. Health guidelines exist for only 10 of the compounds they detected.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">The study was published on January 27 online in the journal
<em><span style="font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif"><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969715312353" target="_blank">Science of the Total Environment</a></span></em>.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">“Septic systems were not designed to remove these contaminants,” Laurel Schaider, a research scientist and lead author of the study, told Circle of Blue. “In dense areas, many people
are downstream of someone else’s septic system.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">A
<a href="http://www.silentspring.org/resource/pharmaceuticals-perfluorosurfactants-and-other-organic-wastewater-compounds-public-drinking" target="_blank">
2014 study</a> from Silent Spring found similar contaminants in wells used by public drinking water systems.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">Household drinking water wells are particularly vulnerable to
<a href="http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2015/world/americas-spreading-septic-threat/" target="_blank">
septic system pollution</a>. Well owners, unlike operators of public drinking water systems, are not required to test their water for contaminants. Household wells serve 14 percent of the U.S. population, more than 44 million people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="background:white"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">Finding the Medicine Cabinet in Groundwater<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">There is
<a href="http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2015/world/septic-system-pollution-contributes-to-disease-outbreaks/" target="_blank">
a well-established connection</a> between septic systems and nitrate and bacterial pollution in drinking water wells. This causes problems.
<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gwat.12121/abstract;jsessionid=9B4AA8F1A20F27E5E8B40D72290077B8.f02t04" target="_blank">
Two-thirds of disease outbreaks</a> in the United States due to untreated groundwater in the last four decades were linked to septic systems or a poorly designed well, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">Schaider and her colleagues, however, were looking for a different type of contaminant on Cape Cod. Pharmaceuticals, flame retardants, and other similar compounds are known as “emerging”
contaminants because their health effects are only beginning to be studied and few have federal drinking water standards .
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">Schaider was careful to note that the concentrations they detected — none of which exceeded health guidelines — were tiny, in the parts-per-billion range, which is thousands or
millions of times lower than a medical dose. Even so, the cumulative, long-term effect of drin king water with low pharmaceutical concentrations, especially for children or pregnant women, is poorly understood.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">“There are health concerns about the interaction of different chemicals in the body,” Schaider said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 style="background:white"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">Remedies<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">What is a town or a homeowner to do? More than eight out of 10 homes on Cape Cod uses a septic system or cesspool and one in five uses a household well.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">Gathering more information about well water quality is one recommendation. That information, however, is expensive. Schaider said that analyzing one water sample for the 117 contaminants
in her study cost $US 1,800.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">“It’s not routine testing that everyone can do,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">The researchers looked for a shortcut that might help homeowners. They analyzed the relationship between different contaminants, to see if the presence of one could indicate the
presence of others. Nitrate, which is not removed by traditional septic systems, was a suitable though imperfect match — imperfect because agriculture runoff is also a large source of nitrate pollution. Testing for nitrate is much cheaper, roughly $US 20 per
sample.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">Other recommendations involve more effort. Local ordinances that require a certain distance between septic systems and household wells could be revised, Schaider said. Or, instead
of continuing to build individual wells, new developments could drill a community well to supply many homes. The well would be strategically located away from septic system runoff.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">That option, of course, does nothing to address the root cause of the pollution, which is the septic system itself. Some communities on Cape Cod are experimenting with
<a href="http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2015/world/americas-septic-system-failures-can-be-fixed/" target="_blank">
new treatment techniques</a>, but more will be needed. Roughly one in five U.S. households uses a septic system.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Laurie Tenace<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Environmental Specialist<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Waste Reduction Section<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Florida Department of Environmental Protection<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2600 Blair Stone Road, MS4555<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tallahassee, FL 32399<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:Laurie.Tenace@dep.state.fl.us">Laurie.Tenace@dep.state.fl.us</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">850.245.8759<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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